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lLS Y 0F CONGRESS 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



UNITED STATES OF AMERiCA. 



' THE MEMORIES OF THE PAST ; \ 



SERMON 



PREACHED BY THE 



AND IN THE 



Forty-Fonrth Year of his Mnistry in that Congregation. 



m 



JOHN W. AMERMAN, PRINTER, 
No. 47 Cedar Street. 

1862. 



KEY. WILLIAM R. DE WITT, \ 



To his Congregation, Harrisbixrgh, 3? a . 



_ _ _ r -— ^s^J 




THE MEMORIES OF THE PAST; 



SERMON, 



FEEACHED BX THE 



REV. WILLIAM K DE WITT. 



To his Congregation, Karrisbxirgn, Pa., 



»«»l»tfe ^ttttiwwgrg si life §lrtl(-§ig s 



Ajsm m tee. 



6 



Farty-Fourth Year of his Miaistry ii that Congregation 



J&HN W. AMERMAH", FR INTER, 
Nov 47 Cedar Street. 




1862. 



TO THE MEM BEES OF 



PENNSYLVANIA, 

THIS DISCOURSE 

IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED, 



BY ONE "WHO j FOR A LONG TIME, STOOD IN TIIE RELATION OF A PASTOR 
TO MOST OF THEM. 



SERMON. 



The days of our years are threescore years and ten,— Psalm, xc 10, 



Such is the ordinary limit of human life on earth. 
By far the greatest part of our race die before they reach 
it. Very few, indeed, live beyond it. Since I last ad- 
dressed you from this pulpit I have passed this boundary. 
I am now in the seventy-first year of my earthly life, 
and in the forty-fourth of my ministry in this congre- 
gation, as its spiritual teacher and pastor. There are 
reflections suggested and memories awakened by the 
occasion, that may not be uninteresting or unprofitable, 
to which I invite your attention. 

I. In the early anticipations of future life, the thoughts 
of its end bear a very small proportion to those of the 
intervening events, which the imagination calls from 
the probabilities of the future, and arrays before the 
mind as the excitements of hope ; yet I doubt whether 
any can be found to whom the question, "How long 
shall I probably live?" has been an utter stranger. 
With the most sanguine there have been hours when, 
however extended the horizon of their earthly exist- 
ence may have appeared, there was yet a boundary 
beyond which it could not pass. That boundary may 
have receded as they approached it, and death deferred 
may again and again have encouraged the hope of 



6 



lengthened life ; but still, far off, its hazy horizon ad- 
monished of its coming end. Comparatively few out- 
live their own expectations. The end comes. The 
boundary is reached, long before they had hoped it 
would. Along the pathways of life are thickly strewn 
the graves of the dead, whose epitaphs, if truly written, 
would tell of plans unaccomplished and hopes not real- 
ized, of anticipated joys and sorrows alike buried with 
their ashes and passing away into oblivion. But it is 
not thus with all Where are those who outlive their 
expectations, whose earthly existence stretches out far 
beyond the horizon, where they expected it would have 
terminated ? Their surprise is that they yet live — that 
the sepulchre has not long since been their abode. No 
one, in early youth, or even in mature manhood, how- 
ever sanguine of life, who will seriously reflect on its 
contingencies, will make their calculations on living to 
threescore years and ten, There are none so young 
but can look upon the graves of their companions. As 
each year rolls round, the number of them increases. 
At the age of thirty, most of the companions of early 
youth have gone down to the land of silence. At fifty, 
they are like the gleaning of the summer vintage, here 
and there a cluster. Our life insurance companies, I 
believe, take no risks beyond sixty, and then only at 
such premiums as to render the refusal of their terms 
more desirable than their acceptance. Out of every 
ten thousand births only about one hundred reach the 
age of seventy ; so that, speaking after the manner of 
men, in regard to any individual, there is not more 
than one chance out of an hundred that he will reach 
his seventieth year. These chances fast diminish as his 
age increases. Of those who reach the ordinary limit 
of human life, how few are in possession of their mental 



7 



faculties, and fewer still of their physical powers. At 
sixty, one is reckoned among the aged. He may, from 
that period, continue for a few years on the ridge of 
life, at the altitude he has attained, and with profit look 
back and survey the steps by which he has ascended ; 
but, ere long, he will begin to descend the shady side, 
and at seventy, in most cases, the descent becomes per- 
ceptible. Then, in the beautiful language of the wise 
man, u The keepers of the house begin to tremble, and 
the strong men bow themselves, and the grinders cease, 
because they are few, and they that look out at the 
windows are darkened. It is then that fears are in the 
way, and the almond tree flourishes, and the grasshop- 
per becomes a burden, and desires fail." 

There are only five or six in this congregation, who, 
with myself, have passed their threescore years and 
ten. With them, as with myself, life has been prolong- 
ed far beyond our expectations. We can look back to 
a period, when seventy years of age was hid to us, far 
beyond the horizon that seemed to limit our existence 
on earth. If some one had predicted that we should 
have been here now, we should have regarded it, if 
not among the impossibilities, yet among the extreme 
improbabilities of human life. We have all of us cause 
for unbounded gratitude to God, that, as He has seen 
proper to spare us so long, He has continued to us so 
much health of body, and, as we are fain to believe, so 
much soundness of mind. We are none of us insensible 
to the fact, that age is disposed to be indulgent to it- 
self, and to claim immunity from these wastes, which 
time, ever imperceptible, makes on the mental as well 
as physical powers. We shall probably be the last to 
think, that, whatever may be the infirmities of our 
bodies, our minds are losing any of the vigor of their 



3 



maturity. When we shall learn that others think so^ 
we will no doubt be greatly surprised, and, in the so- 
briety of age, judge that it is not only a very unfortu- 
nate, but a most profound mistake. But it cannot be 
hid from us that we are old, and are growing older. 
The sepulchres of our fathers and mothers are with us. 
The rosy cheeks of our youthful companions have long,, 
long since paled in death, and the moss grows green 
over their gravestones. Here and there one who, in 
the strength of manhood, stemmed with us the currents 
of life, or bore the burden and heat of the day, remains 
to talk of other times. The memories of the past, 
though sad, are yet, many of them, tinged with roseate 
hues, and awake in the heart the "joys of grief." It 
is among our saddest, yet sweetest pleasures, to stand 
at the graves of the departed, hallowed by sacred mem- 
ories, to recall their Christian virtues, their lives of faith 
and hope, those hours of Christian fellowship and com- 
munion, when our hearts beat in sympathy with each 
other's joys and sorrows, and when, beneath the out- 
stretched wings of the cherubim, and near the mercy- 
seat, we together knelt and invoked , the blessing of 
Him who there delights to manifest his gracious pres- 
ence to loving and contrite hearts; and then, to think 
how securely their dust rests beneath the long grass, 
that waves over it, under the watchful eye and restoring 
hand of Jesus, the resurrection and the life; and to 
look forward in faith to that morning when, at the 
voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, their 
tombs shall rend, and they shall arise in the beauty of 
immortality, to hail in songs of holy praise their de- 
scending Lord. Then will come the new heavens and 
the new earth, over which the " trail of the serpent" 
shall never be seen ; on which the cold shadow of death's 



9 

wing shall never fall ; when the eye shall never be 
dimmed with a tear, nor the heart know the bitterness 
of grief ; but when all shall bloom in perpetual youth, 
friendships strengthen with the years of eternity, and 
the joy of glad spirits grow ever deeper in the presence 
of their Lord. Blessed! blessed anticipations! How 
Well calculated to soothe age under its many infirmities, 
to render peaceful and calm the evening of life, and to 
gild, with the brightest hues, the clouds that gather 
around the opening grave. 

Seventy years! What changes have transpired 
within that time ! Since then, more than two genera- 
tions, comprising, according to the calculations of 
some, from eighteen to twenty hundred millions of 
human beings, have been born, have lived, have acted 
their part on the theatre of life, and passed away into 
eternity ! What thoughts ! what hopes ! what fears ! 
what joys ! what sorrows ! have agitated the minds of 
this inconceivable multitude ! Could they, embodied, 
pass before us in our dreams, they Would seem like the 
Wrecks of a world. But they have all disappeared, 

'" Like the dew on the mountain, 
Like the foam on the billow, 
They are gone, and forever," 

All, but here or there one^ have descended to an 
oblivion for which there can be no recall on earth. 
What the effect of their individual lives, even of the 
most obscure, has been on the destiny of the race, 
none but that omniscient God, who doeth according to 
His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabi- 
tants of the earth, can tell. 

The last years of the eighteenth, and those of the 
nineteenth century thus far, have been, perhaps, the 



10 



most eventful of the Christian era. Towards the close 
of the last century commenced those political upheav- 
ings which shook the thrones of kings and overthrew 
empires. In the year 1792, amid the frenzied violence 
of political parties, and scenes of horrid carnage, roy- 
alty was abolished in France, and the republic pro- 
claimed. Soon after, Louis XYI. was beheaded, the 
Christian religion abolished, a harlot, as the Goddess of 
Reason, enthroned as the object of worship, the Bible 
publicly burned, the Sabbath abolished, and the de- 
cade instituted. With these changes commenced the 
reign of terror, at the recital of the horrors of which 
the heart to this day sickens. Throughout France the 
bonds of society were destroyed. All sense of security 
was lost. Atheism and infidelity stalked abroad in 
their darkest garb. The streets of Paris were deluged 
with blood. From the scenes of confusion and car- 
nage Bonaparte emerged, rose to power, and, for years, 
swept with his victorious armies over Europe, lay- 
ing prostrate thrones and empires, and erecting others 
upon their ruins. The whole of Europe, from the 
North Sea to the Mediterranean, from the Atlantic to 
the Don, shook beneath the tread of the mighty con- 
queror. Egypt felt the power of his arm, and Syria 
trembled in his grasp. His name, wherever heard, 
inspired dread, until confined to his rock-bound island, 
begirt by the waves of the ocean, he laid himself down 
to die, the victim of his own ambition. The results of 
his astonishing career have traveled onward, thus far, 
through the years of the century, moulding the institu- 
tions of Europe, and the current events as they have 
transpired. Perhaps at no time has the influence of 
the Napoleon dynasty been more felt in Europe, and 
throughout the world, than at present. If the empire 



11 



of the first Napoleon was the fruit of lawless ambi- 
tion, it was founded upon the subversion of abuses, 
the most pernicious to the well-being of society. If 
the resources of his empire were perverted into means 
of advancing his own aggrandizement, in creating those 
resources he gave an impulse to all the departments 
of human industry, that not only France, but Europe, 
feels to this day. The same hand that inflicted the 
conscription gave the codes, of which he himself said, 
that they would be remembered, and cover his name 
with renown, when his victories were forgotten. 

While the French revolution was in progress, we 
were launching our ship of State, and committing her 
to the rude billows of time, with vast hopes, yet inter- 
mingled with brooding fears. Not until the year 1792 
was the experiment of a free government — a govern- 
ment based on the will of the people — fully inaugu- 
rated. Nearly a decade of years had then transpired 
since the close of our long, severe, but triumphant 
revolutionary struggle. That struggle, so gloriously 
terminated, was succeeded by a mental conflict, in set- 
tling the basis of our government, in some instances 
more severe, and at times with issues more weighty 
and more uncertain than had been the revolutionary 
contest itself. It is said, that great events bring upon 
the stage of action great men. Never in the history 
of the world were there greater and better men than 
those called forth in the providence of God to lay the 
foundation of this government ; to establish its funda- 
mental laws. So various, so directly in conflict were 
the interests to be consulted, and so opposite were the 
opinions to be reconciled, and with such determined 
tenacity were they held, that it seems almost a miracle 
that the thirteen original States adopted the Constitu- 



12 



tion, which, with some unimportant amendments, 
continues, to this day, the charter of our liberties. 
No one can read the history of that Constitution, 
the conflict of opinions on the gravest questions that 
agitated the convention that formed it, and the severe 
ordeal through which it passed in the several States to 
which it was submitted for their adoption, without the 
deepest conviction, that to the overruling providence of 
God we owe the final establishment of our govern- 
ment. We cannot doubt but that He, by whose agency 
it was established, designed to accomplish by it great 
purposes of good to the race ; that he will sustain it in 
its severest trials, and preserve it in safety until these 
purposes are fully accomplished. We look back to 
those days of trial and of triumph as the earnest of a 
yet glorious future. We cherish the memories, and 
venerate the names, of the heroes and statesmen of 
those days. Ours is, indeed, the legacy of departed 
greatness. There is a brilliancy in that inheritance 
which time cannot tarnish. We may, with perfect 
propriety, nay, we should be recreant to the best feel- 
ings of our own nature, did we not rejoice in a parent- 
age whom God raised up, and so richly gifted, for a 
work of such transcendant importance to all future 
generations. It is with feelings of devout gratitude to 
God that I cherish the memory of a father who, after 
engaging with his whole soul in the revolutionary con- 
flict, submitting to every sacrifice required for the 
cause of freedom, was employed, with the Hamiltons, 
and the Jays and Livingstons of his native State, in 
securing the adoption of the Federal Constitution against 
the most persistent opposition. The recital of all the 
elements in our national prosperity ; our increase in 
population and in wealth ; our improvements in all the 



13 



arts of civilized life ; the development of our national 
resources ; our advancement in education and religion ; 
in short, our progress in every thing that conduces to 
the welfare of man, in his individual, domestic and 
social relations under this Constitution, would be like the 
recital of a fairy tale. It finds no equal in the records 
of the centuries, and may well stand forth as the won- 
der of the world. 

The second war of independence found the sons of 
revolutionary sires prepared to gird themselves for the 
conflict. The few of us men, septuagenarians, that be- 
long to this congregation, I believe, without an excep- 
tion, were enrolled and marched for the defence of our 
country against British invasion. Since the termina- 
tion of that war, so honorable to us, how astonishing has 
been our progress, until now, we find ourselves in- 
volved in a civil war for the suppression of a gigantic, 
organized rebellion, which we should have regarded as 
the result of frenzied insanity, did we not know it to 
be the offspring of long, deliberate, pains-taking, per- 
jured villainy, to accomplish the most stupendous 
wrong for the gratification of personal ambition. And 
now we, who have numbered our threescore years and 
ten, rejoice that our blood flows in the veins of those 
who have stepped forth, voluntarily, to fill the ranks of 
their countrymen, and fight, if required, to the death, 
in their country's righteous cause, for the suppression 
of this rebellion against its government. There have 
been days of deep gloom since this rebellion began, 
but the cloud has broke and the clear sky is seen 
through its openings. Our armies are advancing with 
the sword and the Constitution in one hand and the olive 
branch in the other. The valleys of Tennessee and 
Alabama have heard the shout of welcome to the brave 



14 



defenders of their country. We hail it as the earnest 
of a louder and more joyous shout, that shall ere long 
roll up the waters of the Mississippi and down the val- 
ley of the Potomac, followed by the proclamation of 
the restoration of the Union, and the return of peace 
and friendship. God hasten the day.* Then, we fond- 
ly hope and believe, though we pretend not to the gift 
of prophecy, a new order of things will follow. The 
bitter sectional jealousies of former years will be sup- 
planted by a better understanding and an enduring 
friendship. The different portions of our Union will 
be knit together by social ties that will never be broken. 
Northern industry, thrift and skill will prove that 
Southern fields can be best cultivated by free labor. 
The long enslaved sons of Africa, nurtured under the 
genial influences of a pure Christianity, and prepared 
for freedom, will find eventually their home in the land 
of their fathers, and carry with them the blessings of 
civil and religious liberty. The darkness that has so 
long rested upon that land shall roll away. Its wilder- 
nesses and solitary places shall be glad, its deserts blos- 
som as the rose, and the voice of salvation resound 
through the land. 

In referring to the changes that have taken place 
during the last seventy years, we must not overlook the 
astonishing advances that have been made in the sci- 
ences, and their application to the arts of civilized life. 
Could we suppose an individual, arrived to the years 
of maturity, seventy years ago, and familiar with the 



* Ah ! what bad prophets we are ! During the interval between the preaching 
and publication of this sermon events have occurred that have thrown a dark 
cloud over the anticipations once so fondly cherished. But still we will not 
despond. The Lord has brighter days in reserve for our bleeding country. 
We will hope on and look up, for God is great and good. 



15 



condition of society then — with the state of agriculture, 
commerce, trade manufactures and the habits of do- 
mestic life — taken suddenly away, and now restored 
again, so that the intervening seventy years would be 
a perfect blank, yet with a vivid recollection .of what 
then was, and a knowledge of what now is, it would 
seem to him that he had been translated to another 
world ; at least, he would be overwhelmed with surprise 
and astonishment wherever he turned, so great would 
be the change. The discovery of our coal-fields, and 
the use made of that mineral; the application of steam- 
power to all the purposes to which it is now applied ; 
the general use of gas in our cities and large towns ; 
the magnetic telegraph, and various other discoveries, 
inventions and improvements. Our increase in popu- 
lation, in wealth, in luxury, and in all that ministers to 
the pride of life, has put an entirely new face on so- 
ciety. To us, who have lived through all these years, 
how strange, how like a dream it seems ! A few years 
since I looked upon the first vessel successfully pro- 
pelled by steam on the Hudson River, and then listened 
with wrapped wonder to the following prophecy of one 
of New-York^s most gifted sons: u A swan has been 
hatched on the Hudson, whose cygnets shall yet glide 
upon the waters of the Volga, and people the shores 
of the Caspian. The Genius of Asia, high seated on 
the peaks of Caucasus, his eyes still moist as he sur- 
veys the ruins of Palmyra, Persepolis and Jerusalem, 
shall bow with humble reverence to the inventive spirit 
of the western world.™ This prophecy I have lived to 
see fulfilled, and more than fulfilled. For not only on 
the waters of the Volga, and along the shores of the 
Caspian, do the cygnets of that swan glide ; they 
ride majestically on the waves of the Pacific, and over 



16 



the billows of the stormy Atlantic, amid the icebergs 
of the polar seas and the isles of the tropics. Forty - 
four years> ago, from New-York to Harrisburgh was a se- 
vere journey of three days ; now it is performed with 
ease in a few hours.. A few years ago, and the world 
was surprised by the discovery of the magnetic tele- 
graph. Now it has brought into proximity the distant 
ends of the earth, and soon will encompass the globe. 
Behold ! the preparations for a brighter era! 

But not to dwell on these changes. Those that most 
deeply interest us, as they are intrinsically the most 
important, are those produced by the progress the 
Gospel has made in the worlds as this, more plainly 
than any thing else, indicates the development of Di- 
vine Providence, in carrying forward to their consum- 
mation the vast designs of His mercy to our lost race. 
God is indeed in all history. All events are but the 
fulfilment of His will And all He does is in subordi- 
nation to one grand purpose — the redemption of a lost 
world, through the mediation of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. The last seventy years have been dis- 
tinguished for united Christian effort, in happily-con- 
ceived and wisely-conducted plans, for the evangelization 
of the world. Previous to this period, we read of 
Christian missions in our own country, and in foreign 
lands, in connection with remarkable displays of divine 
grace. But they were far from combining the energy 
and the resources of the Church at large. She does 
not appear to have looked out on our race, to. have felt 
that her field of operation was the world, and that 
upon her rested the responsibility of going into all the 
world,, and preaching the Gospel to, every creature. It 
would seem,, that almost simultaneously the evangelical 
churches were moved by the Spirit of God to reflect 



17 



•on theiT obligations in this respect. And no sooner 
was the expediency and efficiency of combined effort 
proposed, than the spirit of sect and party gave place 
to the spirit of Christian brotherhood and Christian 
union, from which emerged those great voluntary asso- 
ciations that are pre-eminently the glory of the age. To 
me it is an interesting fact, that the year that gave me 
birth, gave birth also to the Baptist Missionary Society 
of England— the first-born of kindred institutions of that 
period — and one of the most honored institutions of 
God, for spreading the gospel among the heathen. 
The names of Cary, Ward and Marshman, missionaries 
sent forth by this society, are embalmed in the memo- 
ries of the pious of all denominations, and will be held 
in everlasting remembrance. To this day that great 
society is on its onward march to the conquest of the 
world, that it may lay it, as its tribute, at the feet of 
Jesus. Soon after the formation of the Baptist, the 
London Missionary Society was formed, (1795,) one of 
the largest and most efficient organizations in the world, 
•and numbers among its missionaries some of the most 
distinguished and devoted men that ever blessed the 
world. In 1796 the Edinburg Missionary Society was 
formed. In 1800 the Church Missionary Society, and 
about the same time the great Methodist Missionary So- 
ciety of England, among the most noble and efficient of 
this blessed fraternity. In 1 803 the British and Foreign 
Bible Society was organized. In 1810 the American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In 1826 
the American Home Missionary Society. In 1825 the 
American Tract Society. The auxiliaries of these 
societies exist in almost every town and city in Great 
Britain and the United States, reach the remotest 
churches, and call into action, to a great extent, the 

2 



18 



benevolence of their members. I refer to this brilliant 
constellation of voluntary associations for the spread 
of the Gospel, that you may see with what an astonish- 
ing revival of the spirit of primitive Christianity the 
Church of Christ was visited, towards the close of the 
last and the commencement of the present century, and 
its continuance to the present time. Yolumes would 
be required to record in detail their operations, and the 
wonderful results attending them. Since their organi- 
zation, the Bible has been translated into most of the 
languages spoken on the globe, and millions of the hu- 
man race, sunk into the most deplorable ignorance, have 
read, and can now read, in their own tongue, the won- 
derful works of God. The missionaries of the Cross, 
sent out by these societies,, have visited every continent 
on the globe, have penetrated into the deepest recesses 
of heathenism, gone to the fartherest verge of this green 
earth, to distant climes and rivers unknown to song y 
and proclaimed the news of salvation through the cross 
of Christ, to those sitting in darkness, and in regions 
gloomy with the shades of death. Millions and hundreds 
of millions have, through their instrumentality, been 
converted to God ; have washed their robes and made 
them white in the blood of the Lamb, and are before 
the throne of God ; and millions more are now treading 
the pathway of life through these vales of sorrow, to 
their abode in glory. The Redeemer's crown glows 
with immortal brilliancy from the gems of earth, and 
Heaven's high arches resound with hallelujahs from the 
lips of these redeemed children of idolatry and guilt 
What a privilege is it, to have been born and to have 
lived in such a period ! How much greater the priv- 
ilege and the honor to have been permitted to have 
some humble agency in carrying forward this blessed 



19 



and glorious work ! It was my privilege to be present 
at the organization of the American Bible Society, and 
take a part in the formation of the American Home 
Missionary Society, than which, there has been no 
agency more efficient in the establishment and nurture 
of evangelical churches, under educated and pious min- 
isters, in our country. Could we trace to their sources 
all the good influences that have, for the last century, 
been permeating our territories, our new, and some of 
our older States, that have been formed within that 
period, promoting good order, intelligence, and the 
social and domestic virtues, we should find the fountain 
of many of them in the American Home Missionary 
Society, while it has been the instrument, under God, 
of saving tens of thousands of immortal souls, and pre- 
paring them for Heaven. The tide of public sentiment 
in regard to the mode of prosecuting missionary ope- 
rations is changing in our country. Voluntary associ- 
ations are giving place to denominational and ecclesias- 
tical boards. I hope these boards may succeed, and 
earnestly desire my congregation may co-operate with 
those in our church. But you will appreciate the pre- 
ferences of one who has, for nearly a half century, been 
intimately associated with the voluntary system. I 
trust the other may prove as extensively useful. 

It is time, however, to direct your thoughts to the 
changes that have taken place in our town, and in our 
own congregation during my ministry among you. 
In referring to the events of this ministry, my heart is 
so full of happy remembrances and causes for grateful 
thankfulness, mingled with occasions for sadness, so 
few, compared with those that usually fall to the allot- 
ments of men, and especially those of my profession, 
in the pilgrimage of life, that I only fear I may too 



20 



greatly impose on your patience. Old men are said to 
be garrulous, fond of talking about old times and old 
friendships, in which others take but little interest. I 
shall endeavor to guard against this propensity, and be 
as concise as the subject will admit. 

It is delightful to look back and recall the kind prov- 
idences of God in ordering our allotments. In the 
spring of 1818, after a hasty academic, collegiate and 
theological course of study, that had not occupied 
more than one-half of the time usually devoted to them 
in our Church, I was licensed by the Presbytery of 
New-York to preach the Gospel. I spent the sum- 
mer months in preaching principally to two vacant 
congregations in the State of New-York. At that time 
I had not heard of Harrisburgh, except as the seat of 
government of Pennsylvania, and knew not an individ- 
ual resident in the place. With an invitation in my 
hand to visit an important vacant congregation in the 
State of New- York, I received, through a friend, an in- 
vitation to visit Harrisburgh. Judging by what I then 
knew of the two places, there were many, and, one 
would have supposed, controlling reasons, why I should 
have accepted the invitation to the former place, and 
not have come to Harrisburgh. But the providence of 
God directed otherwise, and I came here early in the 
fall of 1818. Harrisburgh was then a borough of little 
more than 2,500 inhabitants, principally of German de- 
scent. The church had been organized, in 1794, from 
a part of the Paxton congregation, for many years un- 
der the pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. John Elder, orig- 
inally from Ireland. Its ecclesiastical birth was with 
many throes, as Mr. Elder, for a long time, most vio- 
lently and persistently opposed its formation. Previous 
to 1818 it had had two pastors. The first was the Rev. 



21 



Nathaniel R. Snowden — a man of some eccentricities, 
and much beloved by apart of the congregation. He 
continued the pastor for eleven years from the organi- 
zation of the church. During a part of this time he 
divided his labors between this church and a church 
in Middle Paxton, located in the immediate vicinity 
of the village of Dauphin. The second pastor was the 
Rev. James Buchanan, who also devoted a part of his 
time to the church in Middle Paxton. Mr. B. was much 
and justly esteemed for his piety and talents. His pul- 
pit services were very highly estimated. A gloomy 
and desponding temperament interfered with the per- 
formance of his pastoral duties. But notwithstanding 
this, he was much beloved by his people. The church, 
during his ministry, increased in numbers, and greatly, I 
imagine, in its vitality. His pastoral relation to the 
church continued for seven years — from 1808 to 1815. 
When I came to Harrisburgh, in 1818, there were but 
two settled pastors in the place ; the Rev. Mr. John 
Rahauser of the German Reformed Church, a man of 
singular modesty, but of great excellence. He preach- 
ed in the German language only, or with but few ex- 
ceptions. I have been told by those who knew him. 
best, that in the pulpit he was among the most power- 
ful of the ministers of that denomination. He left this 
in 1819. After that he occupied some of the most im- 
portant positions in his church, and sustained his high 
reputation until his death. The other pastor was the 
Rev., afterwards Dr. George Lochman, pastor of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church of this place, in which re- 
lation he continued until 1826, when he died. Many, 
I have no doubt, still remember the good Doctor. His 
polite, bland, yet simple manners, his affectionate dis- 
position, manifested especially toward the children and 



22 



youth of the town without discrimination. His temper 
never seemed ruffled, except, indeed, when the honor 
and prosperity of the old Lutheran Church were threat- 
ened. For that church he entertained the profoundest 
regard. Its glorious founder, its histories, its memo- 
ries, and, associated, as it was, with his own religious ex- 
perience, rendered it, in his view, pre-eminently the 
church that "Christ loved." Without being a bigot, he 
thought no one's spiritual interests would be better sub- 
served than by throwing his lot in with the good old Lu- 
theran Church. In sentiment, Dr. Lochman was an evan- 
gelical Arminian, and when, in my youthful pugnacity, 
I ventured to assert that Martin Luther was a good Cal- 
vinist, I was sure to meet his frown, with the intima- 
tion that I had never read Luther's later works in Ger- 
man, or I would know better. He was a man of mark. 
Methinks I see him now, walking the street, cane in 
hand. In his dress and manners a perfect gentleman of 
the old school, bowing politely to all he met, and ad- 
dressing some pleasant word to every child and youth 
that passed him. The Doctor's labors were immense. 
Beside his congregation in town, he had some five or 
six, perhaps more, in the country, to which be minister- 
ed. His influence in Harrisburgh and the surrounding 
country was great, and his name is still held in affec- 
tionate remembrance. 

My reception by the people of the congregation was 
exceedingly cordial and kind. After preaching two 
Sabbaths, and several times during the weeks I was 
here, I received not only a unanimous, but an urgent 
call to settle over the congregation as their pastor. 
The attendance then upon, the services of the sanctuary 
was very respectable as to numbers, but the members 
in communion were small. There were a few pious, ex- 



23 



cellent men, and a much larger number of godly, pray- 
ing women. In these last consisted the strength of the 
church as a spiritual body. The hope of its permanency 
and its increase rested, under God, with them. En- 
couraged by the promise of the cordial co-operation of 
this little church, and especially of these female mem- 
bers, who, it was easily seen, were devoted to its spirit- 
ual interests, with, I can honestly say, much trembling 
and many fears, in view of the responsibility I was to 
assume, I accepted of the call, and soon after entered 
upon my labors. 1 found here a Union Sabbath School 
composed of children, and taught by teachers of all the 
denominations of Christians in the borough; and a 
weekly prayer-meeting, conducted by the female mem- 
bers of the church. 

These, with the exception of what meetings were held 
by a few Methodist brethren, who, during that year, 
(1818,) formed themselves into a €hurch, were the only 
lay efforts for advancing the cause of religion then in 
Iiarrisburgh. After some persuasion, our elders and 
other lay members of the church were induced to hold 
meetings for prayer, for their own spiritual improve- 
ment, which, ere long, were attended indiscriminately 
by all who wished to come. In those elders and lay- 
men were soon developed, to a remarkable degree, the 
gift of prayer. I never knew laymen more gifted. In 
a short time no private house could hold the number 
who wished to attend. At the foot of the capital' hill, 
then an open common, corner of Third and Walnut 
streets, there stood a large, long school-house, which 
was obtained and used for our Wednesday evening 
meetings. It soon became exceedingly crowded, and 
in those meetings, we ere long had, as we believed, the 
evidence of the presence of God's Holy Spirit. I can- 



not now remember how long they were held in that 
school-house, but I do remember well, that whenever 
held, there was the spirit of earnest prayer and of most 
delightful Christian sympathy and affection. We early 
introduced the use of BobelPs hymns in our social 
meetings, and it soon became a great favorite with the 
church. The singing of some of the favorite hymns in 
that collection, especially u How firm a foundation ye 
saints of the Lord, 7 ' &c, " It was all of thy grace I was 
brought to obey," still lingers in my memory, and often 
wakes up the most delightful recollections. But there 
was* one we usually sang, the congregation standing, at 
the close of our meetings, that seemed to be indited by r 
and to breathe the very spirit of heaven ; 

" Our souls by love together knit, 
Cemented, mixed in one," &c., &&. 

Often in my musings the voices of loved ones, most 
of whom have long since gone to the land of silence, 
seem to come floating down the years of the past, pour- 
ing forth, in sweetest strains, the words of that hymn 
on my ears, while, bathed in tears, I ask myself, u shall 
it be renewed in heaven ?" On the first or second Sab- 
bath after my ordination, which had been delayed much 
longer than is usual now, (for our old ministers strictly 
obeyed the. injunction of Paul, u lay hands suddenly on 
no man,") at a communion season twenty-one were 
added to the church, all but two on the profession of 
faith. Such was my introduction to my ministerial 
and pastoral labors in this church. A Sabbath school 
of our own was early organized, and taught by the 
members of our own church. Our Sabbath services 
and weekly meetings were regularly observed ; our 
Wednesday evening meetings continued with great in- 



25 



terest for a long time. The children, on stated occa- 
sions, repeated their Catechism to their pastor. A 
Bible class was formed, and taught once a week, which 
continued through many years, most of the members 
of which were brought into the church, and became its 
most intelligent and devoted members. On looking 
over our church records, I find, that for many years, 
but few communion Sabbaths occurred in which there 
were not some added to the church. During the time 
I had the exclusive pastoral charge, there have been 
at least five seasons of special religious interest, in 
1824, 1827, 1830, 1834, and the close of 1842 and the 
commencement of 1843. The last was by far the deep- 
est and most pervading. Since the united pastoral 
relation, there have been at least two seasons of more 
than ordinary interest. Many incidents crowd upon 
my memory, involving the most gratifying expressions 
of confidence and affection on the part of the congre- 
gation, and of personal friendship on the part of indi- 
viduals, which, while of deep interest to myself, would 
not be of any interest to others. 

On the whole, in reviewing my ministerial and pas- 
toral life, I feel that I have cause for unbounded grat- 
itude to God, for his great goodness to me individually, 
and to my family, which has been reared up among 
you. I cannot fail in recognizing the marked and 
special providence of God, in my settlement over this 
congregation, and my continuance with you through 
so long a pastorate. I shall remember with gratitude, 
to the close of my life, the great kindness with which 
I was received by them, when I first came among them 
an entire stranger, and the indulgence with which my- 
self and my ministry were treated. I feel that I shall 
have cause for grateful wonder, throughout eternity } 



26 



for the degree of success which God gave to my min- 
istration, especially during the first years of my ministry, 
when, owing to my previous hurried preparations for 
my profession, my labors were very severe, and at- 
tended often with the deepest depression of spirits. 
How sweet are the memories of the sympathies I then 
experienced from a kind and indulgent people ! I feel 
myself almost irresistibly impelled to give utterance 
to the names of Whitehill, Wier, Sloan, Agnew, Gray- 
don, Fisher and many others — names that must be ever 
dear to me. And not only during the first, but all the 
following years of my ministry to the present moment, 
I have abundant cause for gratitude. Goodness and 
mercy have followed me all the days of my life. I have 
not been without my sorrows and trials, but they have 
been fewer than those of most men, and especially most 
ministers. There have been times when, doubtless, the 
congregation have thought I acted wrong towards them ; 
and, to tell the truth, there have been times when I have 
thought the congregation acted wrong towards me. 
If both were correct in their opinions, of which I have 
no doubt, it only proves, "to err is human." Seventy 
years is a long life, and forty-four years a long pastorate 
over one congregation. It would be strange, indeed, 
if one, imperfect and sinful as we all are, should not 
find occasion, in reviewing such a life, for deep humili- 
ation before God. I confess to innumerable sins and 
short-comings, for which I implore His forgiveness 
through Jesus Christ, His Son. I confess to my people 
to much that I ought not to have done, and to more 
that I have left undone, and I am not ashamed to ask 
their forgiveness. But, on the whole, I feel conscious 
of having endeavored to preach the Gospel among 
you, without respect of persons. I call you to re- 



27 



cord that I have not shunned to declare to you the 
whole counsel of God. I rejoice that the Gospel which 
I have preached has proved the savour of life unto life 
to so many, while it is a cause of great sadness that to 
more I fear it will have proved the savour of death unto 
death, Results of this kind, however, are with God. 
Let us remember, my hearers, there is a day approach- 
ing that will declare them. 

While I have personally cause for gratitude, the con- 
gregation has great cause for thankfulness to God. It 
is now sixty-eight years since this church was organized. 
With the exception of six years of this period, it has 
enjoyed the labors of pastors, settled over them, with 
very few, comparatively, silent Sabbaths. While it is 
far from having been a perfect church, it has, neverthe- 
less, embraced in its communion very many bright ex- 
amples of piety. The legacy of the prayers and ex- 
ample of such is a rich inheritance to any people. This 
church has been the instrument, in the hand of God, of 
effecting much good to the inhabitants of Harrisburgh. 
It has been the means of restraining wickedness, pro- 
moting intelligence and good order, and of fostering 
the spirit of evangelical piety throughout the commu- 
nity. There are, I apprehend, but few places in our 
country, of the population of this city, where the re- 
ligious element is so thoroughly evangelical as here ; 
where errorists are so little tolerated, and where the 
churches of different denominations are so closely 
united in the bonds of Christian fellowship. This church 
has largely contributed to the influences, that, under God, 
have secured these results. It has also done much for 
sustaining the institutions of religion at home, and send- 
ing the Gospel abroad. When I first settled here, the 
congregation worshipped in a very plain brick build- 



28 



ing, a little below where our present house of worship 
stands, on the opposite side of the street, and were then 
in debt for a deep gallery that had been recently erect- 
ed around three sides of the church. Sometime after 
my settlement, compelled, for want of room for Sabbath 
schools and the weekly meetings, the congregation put 
up an expensive addition to the old church. Some 
time after this, they tore the old church to the ground, 
purchased and tore down the house adjoining, and 
built a large, commodious and elegant house of worship ; 
and when that was burned down, built the one we now 
occupy. Every new building has been a great advance 
in size, in convenience and in beauty on the old. All 
this has involved a great expenditure of money, and I 
trust it will be soon said we are out of debt. In the 
mean time, the Gospel has been respectably sustained, 
and much has been done to aid in sending it to the des- 
titute in our own land and in foreign countries. We 
should be thankful that God has enabled us to do all 
this, and to Him we should give all the praise. Up to 
this time this church has had but four pastors, two of 
whom are now actively engaged in ministering to it. 
Whether this, all things considered, will be regarded as 
a cause of thankfulness, I leave you to judge. This, 
however, is certain ; it has been saved those convulsions, 
so frequently occasioned by the change of ministers. 
Since my settlement here, the Lutheran Church has en- 
joyed the labors of five excellent pastors, the German 
Reformed of eight, the Episcopal of thirteen, and the 
Methodists of about twenty. Beside them, several 
others, with whom I am not so well acquainted, have 
labored in the Gospel ministry in this place. My pas- 
torate here is more than twice as long as any pastorate 
over the same congregation in the Presbytery of Har- 



29 



risburgh, longer than any in the Synod of Pennsylva- 
nia, and, with but few exceptions, in the State, of either 
branch of the Presbyterian Church. Whatever may 
be the opinion of some of the expediency of such long 
settlements, it certainly speaks well for the stability and 
permanency of the congregation. It is not one given 
to new things. This church has passed through severe 
trials. The one of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight 
was a severe trial, but the one of 1858 was much more 
severe. Yet they have been the occasions for good. 
Like Jacob's flock, we have become two bands. We 
deeply felt the separation, as we have no doubt many 
of the other band did. But it has tended to the in- 
crease of the members and influence of the Presbyte- 
rian family in our city. Forty -four years ago, with the 
prophet we might have lamented, " Jacob is little, by 
whom shall Jacob arise ?" Well, Jacob has arisen. As 
a denomination, we maintain fully our relative position, 
number and social influence. We hope the division in 
the Presbyterian Church will not be perpetual. We 
think we can see the beginning of the end. In the 
mean time, let not Ephraim envy Judah, nor Judah vex 
Ephraim, but let us labor together for the advancement 
of the cause of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Brethren, no one knows what is before him in the 
future. God has wisely and kindly hid it from our eyes. 
Trials and sorrows may yet befall us. Clouds and 
storms may yet overtake us, and render the pilgrimage 
of life sad and dreary. Whatever God may please to 
send ou me, I trust he will give me grace to bear. But 
it will certainly not be regarded as unreasonable, that 
after so long a pastorate, I should desire to live and die 
among the only people to whom I have sustained this 
relation, and to preach, while He gives me mind and 



30 



strength to do it, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Here 
are buried my own dead. Around them repose the 
ashes of many of those who have broke the bread of 
life, and with them I would that my ashes should re- 
pose until the morning of the resurrection. 

" God of my childhood and my youth, 
The guide of all my days, 
I have declared thy Heavenly truth 
And told thy wondrous ways. 

" Wilt thou forsake my hoary hairs, 
And leave my fainting heart ? 
Who shall sustain my sinking years, 
If God my strength depart ? 

" Let me thy power and truth proclaim 
To the surviving age, 
And leave a savour of thy name, 
When I shall quit the stage. 

" The land of silence and of death 
Attends my next remove. 
Oh ! may these poor remains of breath 
Teach the wide world thy love." 



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